DOTC seeks legal
opinion on Oil Pollution Act overlaps
THE Department of Transportation and Communications
(DOTC) is seeking a legal opinion from the Department of Justice
(DOJ) on possible overlapping of Republic Act 9483 or the
Oil Pollution Management Act with some globally enforced policies.
Transport undersecretary Maria Elena Bautista in a recent
interview said the DOTC specifically wants to know if the
collection of a levy from the local tanker industry under
RA 9483 duplicates coverage under the Civil Liability Convention
(CLC) of 1992 and the International Oil Pollution Convention
(IOPC). International ocean-going tankers draw from the CLC
and IOPC to cover their liabilities during oil spills.
Under RA 9483, tanker operators will pay P0.10 for every liter
of oil they ship to an oil pollution fund.
“We believe there is redundancy if we…enforce
RA 9483. We want the DOJ to settle such inconsistencies first
for us to have a clearer picture of how to enforce the law,”
Bautista, who heads the DOTC water sector team, explained.
“Whatever decision the DOJ renders, we will follow.
However, until the opinion comes out, we will hold implementation,”
she said.
“DOTC will also continue deliberating on other gray
areas such as the timetable for the collection of the levy
and the amount needed for the seed money and its possible
impact on the industry,” Bautista said.
The DOTC has a working draft of the law’s implementing
rules and regulations ready for enforcement once the DOJ says
RA 9483 does not overlap with the CLC and IOPC.
Tanker operators, meanwhile, continue to lobby for the deferment
of the law claiming it will kill the industry.
The Philippine Petroleum Sea Transport Association (Philpesta)
and the Association of Tanker Operators of the Philippines
(Atophil) are also contemplating on legal remedies to prevent
the government from implementing the law.
Philpesta and Atophil claimed their current coverage under
the Protection and Indemnity Club of London, the CLC and the
IOPC is enough to address oil spills.
Revised Domestic Shipping Act guidelines
up for Marina approval
THE Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) has
scheduled for Board approval this month the revised implementing
guidelines for Republic Act 9295 or the Domestic Shipping
Development Act of 2004. The rules have been under review
since 2005.
Revised provisions include the deployment of vessels and routes
serviced, issuance of special permits, and the issuance of
Certificate of Public Convenience for specific routes and
schedules.
“Hopefully with a new set of guidelines, we will be
able to kick start growth of the maritime industry that has
been at berth in the past two decades,” Marina administrator
Vicente Suazo, Jr said.
Earlier, the Philippine Liner Shipping Association (PLSA)
pushed for the amendment of the implementing rules and regulations
of Republic Act 9295, claiming that instead of helping the
industry grow, the law since its passage in 2004 has dampened
the market due to conflicting procedures in the issuance of
special permits to foreign vessels.
RA 9295 was passed to kick start modernization of the country’s
shipping fleet and boost the shipbuilding industry, mainly
content to do repair work for foreign shipowners.
The law offers a ten-year tax exemption for vessel operators
who will introduce new vessels provided they meet the vessel
age limit. For passenger and cargo vessels, the age limit
is 15 years, for tankers 10 years, and for high-speed passenger
craft, five years.
RA 9295 also exempts the shipbuilding and ship repair industries
from paying the value-added tax on the import of capital equipment,
machinery, spare parts, steel plates and other metal plates
for use in the construction, repair, renovation or alteration
of any merchant marine vessel operated or to be operated in
the domestic trade.
THE Professional Regulatory Board for Customs
Brokers (PRBCB) has turned down the petition of a brokers’
group to conduct a referendum to determine if the Accredited
Professional Organization (APO), currently the Chamber of
Customs Brokers, Inc. (CCBI), continues to enjoy the support
of the majority of brokers.
The PRBCB also declined the request of the Professional Customs
Brokers Association of the Philippines, Inc (PCBAPI) for its
(PRBCB) chair to inhibit himself from the case. It may be
recalled that in November 2007, PCBAPI filed a motion to inhibit
PRBCB from processing the renewal accreditation of CCBI since
one of the chamber’s directors is the son of the PRBCB
chair.
In a ruling on Administrative Case No. 29 involving petitioner
PCBAPI versus CCBI and the PRBCB, the Board said it has no
power to interfere in the conduct of such referendum since
the matter is an internal concern of the Board.
It said under Rule 4 of Professional Regulation Commission
(PRC) Resolution No. 2004-178, it may only cancel or suspend
the accreditation of an APO if, among others, the membership
of the accredited professional organization falls 50% or below
those who have been issued their annual registration cards
for the annual year.
“To reiterate, the commission is not clothed with authority
of law or resolution to conduct such referendum,” the
decision signed by PRBCB chair Constantino Calica and member
Ferdinand Nague said.
It added PRC Resolution No. 2006-325 (entitled Deputizing
the Philippine Association of Professional Regulatory Board
Members, Inc [PAPRB] to assist the commission in receiving
and evaluating the completeness of documents to be submitted
for the renewal of the accreditation of professional organizations
and in monitoring compliance with re-accreditation requirement)
made no mention of the participation of the PRBCB chair or
any member of the Board concerned in the renewal of accreditation
of its accredited organization.
“The Resolution explicitly deputizes PAPRB to provide
assistance to the commission in receiving and evaluating the
completeness of documents to be submitted by the APOs in support
of their applications for renewal of their accreditation as
professional organization and in monitoring their compliance
with their re-accreditation requirements under PRC Resolution
No. 2004-178.”
CCBI, for its part, said the 50%-plus membership requirement
does not apply to renewal of accreditation pursuant to Section
1 Rule 37 of PRC Resolution 2004-178.
Moffat & Nichol working on ICTSI’s
new Colombia terminal
INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) is
tapping the services of US-based consultant Moffatt &
Nichol to construct the first phase of its newest container
terminal in Aguadulce Peninsula in Colombia.
Moffatt & Nichol is concluding detailed design, construction
drawings, technical specifications, and bid documents for
the project. Founded in 1945, the company provides design
engineering services to the evolving maritime infrastructure
on the west coast of the United States.
Phase I includes extensive land reclamation; dredging of berthing
areas and turning basin to the existing access channel; 600
meters of new wharf; construction of a new 21-kilometer access
road; on-site housing; administration buildings; maintenance
shop; terminal fire station; and an emergency power generation
station.
The facility will have an initial capacity of 450,000 TEUs
with a planned full capacity of 1.2-million TEUs in the next
few years if there is enough volume and demand. It will have
900 meters of quay with three berths, nine post-panamax quay
cranes, automated gate systems, inspection and screening areas,
intelligent traffic control, and modern management systems.
ICTSI was granted the 30-year concession to develop and operate
the container terminal in the Aguadulce Peninsula. It earlier
said it will start construction last November but moved the
date by a year to November 2008. The total investment requirement
is $180 million.
Aguadulce Peninsula is across the channel to the existing
Port of Buenaventura, the biggest port in Colombia and is
located in the Departamento Del Valle Del Cauca in the country’s
Pacific coast.
ICTSI has also signed the agreement to acquire stakes in two
existing companies to gain effective control of Sociedad Puerto
Industrial de Aguadulce S.A., which owns 225 hectares of land
in Aguadulce Peninsula.
MAGSAYSAY-OWNED National Marine Corp. (NMC)
is looking at a 20% increase in cargo volume to 80,000 TEUs
this year and revenues of P1.5 billion.
Growth will be powered by active markets in Southern Mindanao,
“mostly propelled by shippers of manufactured goods,
raw materials, chilled products from Cebu, Cagayan De Oro,
Davao and General Santos,” NMC president and chief executive
Roberto Umali said.
Additional capacity from a new cargo vessel, and the introduction
of a service that will connect Manila to Mindanao are also
expected to contribute to better performance.
Umali said the growth could have been higher if not for the
spiraling fuel prices.
At the start of the year, NMC introduced its newest vessel,
the 500-TEU nine-year-old MV Romulo, jointly operated with
sister firm Lorenzo Shipping Corp (LSC). It services the Manila-Davao-General
Santos-Manila route. The vessel is NMC’s sixth dedicated
freighter.
Last year, NMC also introduced a vessel on the Manila-Davao-Manila
route to accommodate the area’s increasing traffic.
One of the country’s top local containerized cargo carriers,
NMC handled 65,000 TEUs last year, 15% higher than the previous
year’s. Much of the volume came from Cebu.
Mother firm Magsaysay Transport and Logistics is embarking
on a massive refleeting program for both NMC and LSC .
Magsaysay is also set to acquire two more vessels in the next
two years to replace two of its ageing vessels.
